Woman Stalker Fatally Stabs Circus Worker

Police have arrested a Florida woman who apparently followed her ex-husband across the country and then stabbed him repeatedly inside a Davenport mall where he was working for a traveling circus set up in the parking lot.

Debi Joy Droguett Olson, 53, of Sarasota, Fla., was charged Thursday with first-degree murder and willful injury in the death of 52-year-old Mauricio Droguett, said Capt. David Struckman.

"It's a classic case of rage, of hate for someone - it's very personal," he said. "She definitely stalked this man."

Olson confessed to investigators after the attack, and Struckman said she was "very cooperative, really."

He said Mauricio Droguett was walking inside the NorthPark Mall about 7:30 a.m. Thursday when he was stabbed more than 10 times on the front and back sides of his body. One of his circus co-workers reportedly subdued Olson until police arrived.

That man suffered minor injuries, Struckman said.

Authorities said Mauricio Droguett worked for Carson & Barnes Family Circus, a traveling circus based in Sarasota, Fla. He had gotten restraining orders against his ex-wife in at least three states, but assistant county attorney Jerry Feuerbach couldn't confirm which states.

He said the couple were married for about 20 years before divorcing a few years ago. They had no known local connection other than that Mauricio Droguett was working in the area.

Feuerbach said the circus employees had arrived in Davenport early Thursday.

"He had probably only been in Davenport a matter of minutes before this happened," Feuerbach said.

A telephone call to a number listed for the circus went unanswered. Its Web site showed that the circus was scheduled to perform in Davenport on Thursday night.

Struckman said Olson had parked her vehicle where her ex-husband wouldn't see it, and apparently waited at a loading dock where she had a vantage point of the traveling circus set up in the mall's parking lot.

He said Olson carried a hammer and knife as she followed Droguett into the mall and then stabbed him multiple times. There were about a half dozen witnesses at the scene, where mall security immediately responded and police followed within 2 minutes, Struckman said.

"We've got human emotion involved - this case is a very strong case of anger," he said, calling the stabbing a "brutal" act.

Darcy Jacks, a spokeswoman for the mall, said it opened at its usual time and "everything is business as usual." She referred further questions about the incident to police.

Feuerbach said Olson was scheduled for an initial appearance in Scott County District Court on Friday morning. He did not know if she had hired an attorney. She was being held in the Scott County Jail.

Mauricio Droguett's body was being transported to Iowa City, where an autopsy was expected to be performed.